This is a rare treat (for me at least) but I just got a successfull and
*working* compile of meta-pkgs/gnome2! It even seems to work, though with
a few hitches (ggv doesn't work, can't set background properties etc.).
Nautilus works as well. I think I'll try to push my luck and try evolution 
next.

It's not lightning fast but it's bearable (with the default settings) on an
Alphastation 500/500 (21164, 512MB memory, 8MB cache). Interestingly
this is the first time I've ever hit swap on this machine...

I'm running 1.6T with -current pkgsrc.

Thanks to all involved!
-- 
jht